as in deserted
to leave (a cause or party) often in order to take up another
soldiers defected from the rebel army en masse as the failure of their cause became apparent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defected (from)
Verb
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The expedition’s two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, were carrying 129 crew members when the vessels became trapped in Arctic ice for nearly two years before crews deserted them in April 1848.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
12 May 2026 -
Idle oil wells cleanup Senate Bill 47 raises the cap on how much money from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund can be spent to plug and cleanup deserted oil wells, according to the California State Senate website.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
April 22,
Sacbee.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Ligue 1 clash between FC Nantes and Toulouse FC was abruptly abandoned.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
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But, as the Shale Revolution gained steam, all of those import facilities were either abandoned or converted to exports and have been joined by dozens of competing terminals.—
David Blackmon,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
Verb
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The comments came two weeks after the House rejected DeSantis’ push to pass bills to expand vaccine exemptions for children entering public schools and to install consumer-friendly regulations on artificial intelligence products and companies.—
Gray Rohrer,
Sun Sentinel,
15 May 2026
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Bianco launched a voter‑fraud investigation after a local group claimed the county counted roughly 46,000 more ballots than were received, a claim election officials rejected.—
James Ward,
USA Today,
15 May 2026
Verb
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Change the menu—cut off their food sources.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
19 May 2026
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Iran's near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has thrown global oil trade into disarray, cutting off importers from around one-fifth of the global oil supply that traversed the waterway before the war.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
18 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Defected (from).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defected%20%28from%29. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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